Encounter
by GryffindorCaptain06
Summary: The Guardians watch an encounter with a certain young spiderling. Fem!Peter Parker


**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. What they're watching is a heavily edited version of the five "C'mon Spaceman (the cosmos are waiting)" by foureyedme on ao3.**

**My version of Marvel universe:**

**Pietro Maximoff didn't die**

**Laura is Clint's sister (I ship Clintasha hardcore)**

**Civil War never happened and Secretary Ross is… practically non-existent.**

**There is some twincest between the Maximoff twins**

**Bucky snapped out of his brainwashing the moment he saw Steve**

**Peggy was just a cover for Stucky**

**JARVIS is still around so, no Vision**

**May Parker is dead**

**And Peter Parker is Payton Parker**

The newly dubbed Guardians of the Galaxy wa were aboard the Milano when they were surrounded by a bright white light, and then suddenly, they were in a dark room with six red beanbag chairs. The walls were painted black, and one wall was mostly taken up by a screen.

"Where are we?" Peter wondered out loud, not expecting an answer.

"You are in my special movie theatre!" A bright voice sounded out, and the guardians turned. They were faced by a Terran girl with strawberry blonde hair and vivid green eyes. "You are here to watch a special encounter involving you."

"And who are you, puny human?" Rocket asked, lip curling.

"Okay, first, I'm not completely human, I am a witch. And second, my name is AGD. Are we gonna start our what?" She asked, already annoyed with the raccoon.

**A man in a wolf suit throws a live chicken at a brunette woman in a red super suit and mask.**

"Is she some sort of superhero?" Quill asked, and then he continued without waiting for an answer. "Did that guy just throw a live chicken at her?"

"Yes, she's the Crimson Spider, and yes, he did." AGD answered, only glancing at him.

**The picture zooms in on the woman's face, and the suit and mask and background fade away to show the woman inside a house, a panicked expression clear on her face.**

"I am Groot!"

"Yeah, she doesn't look happy." Rocket agreed.

**She reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone, opening a chat.****to Tony Stark:**

"Tony Stark?" Peter said, "I've heard of him. Back before I left earth."

**heads up I'm pretty sure aliens just crashed in my yard****it's kind of cool i guess****hope they come in peace****She stepped outside and slipped the door shut behind her. She kept her eyes on the ship in her yard.**

"Is that the Milano?" Gamora asked, and the others merely nodded, stunned.

**Creeping forward, she noticed a flash of movement through the glass windshield. She looked equal parts concerned, confused, and intrigued.****That's when Starlord fell out of the side with his gloved hands up. Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot followed, Groot on Rocket's shoulder.****"Wow," The woman said suddenly, and they all jerked to look at her. "Star Wars did not prepare me for this."****Quill straightened up instantly. "They still have Star Wars?"**_**Okay, what the fuck**_

"Oh, I forgot that you'd be hearing some of her thoughts." AGD stated as the Guardians looked confused.

**Her pocket buzzed rapidly. "That sentence implies you've been here before. I'm compelled to ask you who the hell you are, and why you crash landed in my backyard." _For the love of all that is holy, Tony, stop texting me. With my luck, they can sense vibrations._****Drax scoffed, and the woman narrowed her eyes at her. "We owe no answers to you, Terran."**

**She raised an eyebrow. "Okay," she started, "first off: rude." Peter shrugged as if to say, 'sorry, but that is his way'. "Secondly, you landed in my yard, dude, not the other way around, which means that I am, in fact, due an answer. Third, yeah we 'still have Star Wars'." She paused. "Oh fuck, I hope you don't think those are documentaries. They're just stories, we can't actually use the Force – the Force isn't real. I think." _If I die here, I am gonna haunt the fuck out of George Lucas._****"I am Groot," Groot said**_**Okay, that made absolutely no fucking sense, thanks. For one, knowing his name helps me not all, two, I already knew he was from space, and three, there is no fucking way I am going to go with them.**_

**Rocket started talking. "Yeah, Groot, we know. And no, you can't keep her."****_Should I be concerned with my future safety?_ "Can I get an answer? Preferably before my landlord evicts me."****Peter grimaced. "Oh man, that's illin'. He's gonna kick you out because we landed in your yard?"**_**He sounds human, which is strange. I would've thought that aliens had a totally different language or at least a different vocabulary. Alright, addendum, he kind of sounds human. I'm not sure what the fuck "illin" means, but the way he said, "They still have Star Wars?" sort of implies that he had once been to Earth, maybe was from Earth but left somehow. And "illin" sounds like it could've been used by teens in the eighties. Maybe. Shit, I don't know. I was a kid during the nineties. **_

"They don't say illin anymore. Noted." Quill said, completely deadpan.

**"I am Groot," Groot said again.****"That was just as insightful as the first time you said it, small dude." _Really, what is knowing that he is sorry they had inconvenienced me going to do for the current situation? _**

"She can understand Groot?" Rocket asked, slightly impressed against his will.

**She slipped her phone out of her pocket and dialed Tony's number. _Of course this had to happen on my day off. _She lifted the phone up to eye-level and glanced back to the aliens. They were all watching her cautiously. _Honestly, at this point, it might just be better for me to move into Avengers Tower. At the rate I'm was going, I'm going to get kicked out anyways._**

Peter winced.

**Tony picked up on the third ring, his face appearing in a hologram in front of her, and the Guardians fell into defensive positions. _Quick healing or not, it still takes time for me to be work-ready after a bad fight, and with the odds – five against one, and yes, I'm counting the miniature tree named Groot – it was definitely going to be a bad fight for me if it comes down to it._ "Salutations, spiderling." He greeted. "Can I ask what the call is for?"**"Spiderling?" Drax asked. "Is this a Terran reference?" Peter shook his head, glancing over at the grey alien.

"I think it's a reference to the 'Crimson Spider' thing.

**"You have always had that option, Mr. Stark," She said with a smile.Quill seemed to perk out of his defensive position at the mention of Stark.****"Oh no," Tony said with an only slightly pretend worried look. "You're bringing out formalities on your day off? Not a good sign. So," he spun around in his chair to pick up something on the table before spinning back around to face her. "What's the call for, itsy bitsy?"**

"A song about a spider." Peter explained before his friends could ask.

**The woman flipped the phone around, letting Tony see the aliens in her yard and the still flaming wreckage of their ship. "Good news," she said dryly, "is that they didn't ask me to take them to my leader. I just figured that you'd be one of the best equipped to deal with this." She turned the phone back to face her. "This is me requesting immediate back up that actually knows how to – diplomatically – handle crash-landing aliens."**

**"I'll be there in five." Tony flashed a grin at the camera before jumping up from his seat and striding towards the Iron Man suit's assembling strut.****"Not you!"****"JARVIS," Tony intoned as he reached the steps, "be a dear and cut the call."****She stared at her phone with a face full of regret. "I should've called Pepper first." She looked back up at the aliens, who, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be looking at her with renewed interest. "So," She tucked her phone back into her back pocket. "You want to come inside? I've been told I make excellent ramen."**

Peter seemed to perk up at the mention of Ramen.

**The woman turned back to her alien guests, all of them seated at her small kitchen table with miscellaneous objects from around her house acting as chairs for the three who didn't have a regular chair.****Peter and Gamora were using the real chairs, and Groot was sitting on the table.Rocket was boosted up by the sole recliner in the house and three stacked pillows, and Drax was sitting on one of her numerous footstools.****"So," Peter said, drawing the word out. "We should probably introduce ourselves."****Rocket looked up from where he was disassembling the woman's toaster. "And why the hell should we do that, Quill?" Without looking, he pried one of the walls loose and dropped it onto the table. _Damn, I'm gonna need a new toaster._**

**"She's making us food?" Quill tilted his head as his voice got higher. "Not just any food, either, Rocket; she's making Ramen noodles."****"Great," Rocket rolled his eyes. "Terran food. If we're lucky, maybe it won't poison us."****Quill stiffened and leaned forwards. "How was I supposed to know chocolate wasn't safe for you to eat?"****The woman raised an eyebrow. "Dude," she said, "he's a raccoon. Chocolate isn't good for any animal to eat. It's basically pure sugar. Even some humans can't stand it."**

The Guardians looked at Peter, eyebrows raised.

"I guess not all Terrans are as stupid as Quill here." Rocket said as Quill spluttered in protest.

**She turned back to the stove when she heard the first signs of the water boiling. _Super hearing definitely has its perks, and this is definitely one of them._ She started to rip open the packages and remove the flavoring. _It's lucky I have so many things of ramen in my cupboard. Though, really, what else am I supposed to be able to afford? I'm lucky to not have to be living off of wish sandwiches._**

**A whispered conversation broke out behind her, and the woman rolled get head. _Finally, I'll be getting some damn answers. Maybe I'll manage to learn why they're here before Tony gets here and drags them off to the Compound._**

"What's 'the Compound'?" Gamora asked, and Peter shrugged as the team looked at him.

**"I'm just saying," Peter hissed, glancing over to where the Terran stood in front of the stove, dumping the ramen into the boiling water. "It wouldn't hurt to try to make an ally right now."****Gamora scoffed. "A Terran is no real ally. You are all weak and extremely susceptible to the dangers lurking in the cosmos. Your endurance is pitiful, and your reflexes pathetic." She met his eyes and shrugged. "No offense."****"I'm supposed to not take offense to that? How was that not offensive?"****"I am Groot." Groot waved his arms around.****"Yeah, I know. Rude, right?"****Gamora made a dangerous noise. It sounded like a growl, but it was ten times deadlier.**

**"Alright, fine. No Terran allies." He raised a hand to forestall the rest of his team's comments. "But it wouldn't hurt to play nice with her. I remember hearing about Tony Stark before Yondu picked me up. Stark Industries is a major technology and weapons corporation. She works for the man who probably now heads it, and he knows her well enough to 1: call her by fond nicknames, and 2: come immediately to her rescue basically unprompted, which means that he'd probably be willing to kill us with those weapons. Besides, none of you have ever been here before, so there's no way the Terrans knowing your names will do you any damage."****Rocket bared his teeth. "It wouldn't help us any either, Quill."****Peter sighed through his nose. _Sometimes, I just want to shoot my team a couple times with a high-voltage taser. Not enough to kill them, of course, but they'd shut up long enough for me to actually be able to make a point._**The rest of his team glared at Quill, but he took no notice.

**Drax slammed his hand down on the table. The Terran girl jumped slightly and went tense. "Enough." Drax barked. "This bickering is worthless. We are only coming back to the beginning of the conversation."****Gamora nodded. "My point exactly."****Peter huffed. "Terrans are weak my ass," he muttered. "I basically kicked yours when we first met."****Drax continued as though he had never been interrupted. "There is no reason for me to not tell a member of a weaker species my name. She cannot harm me."**_**I'm getting a little tired of being ridiculed by aliens in my kitchen. It isn't like they're really making an effort to keep their voices down, minus the robot and the green woman. The grey man is almost as loud as Thor, and the raccoon probably just doesn't give a fuck.**_Peter looked at his team with exasperation, wishing they could just be nice.

**She grabbed five bowls out of the cupboard, thought better of it, and returned one to replace it with a tiny dish Aunt May had given her for gravy. She dumped the ramen into a strainer before divvying it up for the aliens and dropping the flavoring packets on top. She filled the smaller gravy bowl with water for Groot.****When she turned to tell the aliens that the food was ready, she found herself face to face with Gamora.****"Hi," she said. "Food's done."****Gamora stared at her for a good thirty seconds. Quill put his face in his hands in the background as Drax stood up to walk over to them. "Peter," Gamora started with a measure of derision, "has decided that it is necessary for us to tell you our names. For the sake of not getting stuck in another one of his ridiculous moping sessions, I will comply. I am Gamora, one of the five members that make up the Guardians of the Galaxy, and an ex-assassin. It is," her lip curled the slightest bit, "a pleasure to meet you."**

Peter facepalmed.

**The woman blinked. _Well, that was completely condescending._ "Thanks, I guess," she flashed her a quick smile with all of her teeth. "I'm Payton Parker." _One of the ten members of the Avengers. And we have THREE ex-assassins, you're not that special; well, five if you want to count Wanda and Pietro, but I don't, so three is fine._**

**"Oh my God, Gamora, what the fuck?" Peter slumped completely onto the table.****"And I am Drax the Destroyer. I am another member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. I do not find making your company to be particularly unpleasant, so I also find it a pleasure to introduce myself to you."**_**Alright. This is fucking weird. Tony, where are you?**_

**"Hi, Drax the Destroyer. It's a pleasure to meet you too." The smile she flashed him was a lot more pleasant than the one Gamora had received.****Rocket made a scoffing noise at her and was instantly accosted by Groot. "I am Groot!" He protested, and Payton smiled.****"Thanks, Groot," she said instead, moving to the table so she could set down the bowls. "But he doesn't have to tell me his name if he doesn't want to. He doesn't need to apologize either. Now, here's the ramen; do you guys want water or Gatorade?"**

"Why do you guys have to be rude to the one being I've ever met that is genuinely kind?" Peter groaned from his seat.

**Starlord sat up excitedly. "You have Gatorade? What flavors?"****Payton moved back to the fridge, and pulled it open, dropping into a squat to look into the bottom drawer. "Uh, looks like I have Arctic Freeze, White Cherry, Rain Berry, and Grape." She pulled a Rain Berry out for herself and tossed it up on the counter, where it landed perfectly.****"Ooh, Arctic Freeze. Please, and thank you."****Payton turned around with the drinks in hand and eyed Quill in curiosity. "You can drink?" The robot tilted his head. "Like, it won't mess up your circuitry? No fried wires?"****He blinked at her, looking exceedingly confused.****"What?"****"The drink won't hurt you?" She clarified. "Seeing as, y'know, you're a robot?"****He blinked again, and Rocket lost it.**

**"Quill is not a robot," Drax said. "He is a squishy and fragile Terran, as you are."****"He's wearing a helmet," Gamora said, crossing her arms and smirking.****"You thought I was a robot?" Quill asked, and he sounded like he was smiling.****Payton flushed. "Well, what was I supposed to think? You're wearing a metal helmet! And it didn't seem like the most outrageous outcome to find my way to, considering you're all literally aliens, and I work for a man who's made his life by creating AIs and robots. And the Iron Man suits."****Quill definitely had to be grinning now, as Groot piped up in the background, walking towards the water bowl. "Okay, but still, a robot? Like Terminator?"**

**Payton didn't bother holding back her glare. "Okay, spaceman, you've made your point."****Quill put his hands up in the apparently universal gesture for surrender. "Sorry, sorry," he said, clearly not apologetic. He actually looked kind of tense. Payton cocked her head to the side unconsciously.**

Quill's eyes widened, and he let out a surprised breath. His team looked at him curiously, but he was staring, open mouthed, at the frozen screen. AGD shook her head.

"It will be explained later."

**Quill stared in shock at Payton, for a moment before snapping out of whatever haze he was in.****"So," he said cheerfully enough for his current situation, "what exactly do you do here on Terra?"****Payton rolled her eyes before answering. "I work for an overgrown child," she told him, and there was a noise of affront from the doorway.****"Rude!" A man's voice said as he pushed through the door, coming into view. "I'm only 5'6'', I can't be too overgrown for a child." His eyes flicked over to the aliens, assessing them even as he smiled charmingly. "Tony Stark," he said needlessly, spreading his hands out in front of him. "Pleased to meet you."**

**"Oh no," Payton said under her breath, "I wouldn't get started with that if I were you."****Peter eyed her, amused.****Gamora clearly didn't find it as funny as Peter did.**

**Tony looked at Payton questioningly. She shrugged. "Tony," she said, making a wide sweeping arc with her arm, "meet the Guardians of the Galaxy. Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Bumblebee. No clue what the raccoon goes by. He refuses to tell us his name due to our species' natural inferiority to him." She gestured to each of the aliens in turn, and the turned to Tony and put one hand to the side of her mouth to stage whisper. "I wouldn't trust the robot, he referred to himself as the Terminator."**

**Tony snorted, then took a closer look at Quill. "He's a robot?" A thoughtful look passed over his face before it was replaced with something akin to childish excitement. "A space robot?"****Quill made a protesting noise. "I'm not a robot!"****Tony frowned. "Pity. You sure?"****He raised up a hand and pushed something on his helmet, and they watched as it retracted much like Tony's latest suit. Tony and Payton instantly perked up. **

**_Holy shit, space technology._ Both Terrans thought. Then, Payton glanced at Quill. **

_**Holy shit, Spaceman is hot.**_

That seemed to snap Quill out of his daze and he smirked, sitting back.

**Tony started asking him questions about his helmet rapid-fire, while Payton stared unashamedly at the decidedly not robot-alien. Quill glanced over at her from where he was fielding questions, grinned, and winked.****Payton eyed his thruster boots and helmet, clearly trying to figure out how they work.****"You coming, underoos?" Tony asked while the Guardians pulled their belongings from the no longer flaming ship in her backyard.****Payton considered the question, tapping her fork against her chin and humming. She leaned her head back and turned to look at him. "Might as well," she said. "I don't have anything else to do. Was figuring I'd just patrol the rooftops today."****"That's great news, considering I need someone to fly the Quinjet to the compound while I run ahead in the suit and get everything ready."****Payton sent him a deadpan look. "And what would you have done if I'd said no?"****Tony pretended to look thoughtful. "Reminded you of the last time someone unexpectedly swung past the compound and said hi to Bucky."****Payton frowned at the memory, rubbing her back as they wandered out her back door to where the aliens and the two ships were waiting. "I still maintain that he knocked one of my kidneys loose with the first punch, and then set it back again with the roundhouse kick."**

The Guardians raised their eyebrows, Quill looking concerned and the others confused.

**"I still don't understand how you didn't feel that coming."**

??? The Guardians decided to stop questioning it.

**A loud cry of victory came from the ship and both Tony and Payton looked up from where they were sat in front of Payton's sliding glass doors, only to see Quill tumble out the side of his ship, holding something up in his hands. "Eureka!"****Payton raised an eyebrow. "I never thought I'd see the day a Walkman was the source of that much joy." She said to Tony.****"That's a Walkman? Holy shit." Tony's eyes were wide. "I haven't seen one of those since the early eighties."**

Peter frowned.

"They don't make Walkmans anymore?" He questioned, clearly confused.

**Payton snorted and tilted her head as they watched him jump from foot to foot while he plugged in a pair of old-school headphones. "At least we know he's been to Earth since they invented the Walkman."****"You kidding me?" Tony looked affronted. "He can't be older than 24."****"Tony," Payton said, "I'm 28, how old do you think 24 looks?"****"I don't know, how old do you think he is?"****Payton squinted in thought. "With how excited he is about the damn Walkman, he must've got it relatively soon after it came out. Also, he said 'illin', which has to be some sort of eighties slang. With that, I'd say he's probably about 30, oldest 33."**

Quill nodded.

"Around that." He stated.

**Tony slanted his eyes back at her. "You think?" He asked, looking thoughtful as he gave Quill a once-over.****"Only one way to know," Payton said with a grin. "Yo!" She yelled. "Spaceman!"****He looked back up, the strange tensing of his muscles back.****Payton watched as Spaceman faked a grin – a charming one, but a fake one. "Yo!" He yelled back, jogging over to them, and then, "Stardust."**

**Payton's eyes widened and a flashback starts. **

_**"Aunt May," Payton said, climbing up on the couch beside where she and Uncle Ben were sitting, watching the Food Network. Aunt May had paused the TV and turned to face Payton.**__**"Yes, sweetie?" She asked, giving Payton her full attention. May elbowed Ben, who was still focused on the book in his hand.**__**"Hmm, yes?" He looked up, focusing his attention on Payton, who beamed at him, momentarily distracted.**__**She wasn't distracted for long, though.**__**Payton tilted her head. "What does the word on my arm mean?"**__**Ben made a faint sound like he was dying. "Already?" He whispered to his wife, who smiled and patted his leg.**__**"Sweetie," May said kindly, "the word on your arm is what your soulmate is going to call you." May picked Payton up and depositing her in between herself and Ben. "Your soulmate is going to call you 'stardust' most often, like your Uncle Ben calls me his darling, and I call him handsome."**__**"What's a soulmate?" Payton asked excitedly, turning from her aunt to her uncle. "Are you two soulmates? What's stardust? Why's that what they call me?"**__**May laughed at Payton's enthusiasm and leaned forwards as if telling her a secret. "A soulmate is someone who will love you more than the rest of the world," she told the six-year-old, who bounced in between her aunt and uncle, eyes wide and curious. "They'll be there for you, no matter what happens, and you'll be there for them, too."**__**Payton turned her awed eyes onto the word slanted across her forearm and brushed her fingers across it gently. "Stardust," she said and smiled.**__**"Your soulmate is going to call you 'stardust' most often..."**_

The Guardians looked at Quill, and he pushed up his sleeve, showing them the word 'Spaceman' in black on his forearm.

_**holy shit oh my god no way holy shit stardust he called me stardust oh my god is a coincidence he called me STARDUST.**_

**"This feels like I'm being sidelined." Quill complained to Payton, who was piloting a jet.****"Sorry, our 'jet, our rules, spaceman," Payton said, squinting at the open sky in front of her.****He made an indistinct noise next to her.****"I'm a pilot," Quill complained. "I have my own ship that I fly, and well, may I add."****Payton turned from the steer to face him. "You crashed in my backyard." She said flatly.**

His team snorted.

**He turned pink and spluttered. "We'd been shot! The ship integrity was compromised! You can't say I crashed it because I'm a terrible pilot," he waved his hands around while he tried to defend himself. "We'd been attacked, and I can promise you that landing was the safest one I've ever seen an on-fire ship make!"****Payton snorted and turned back to face the sky. The rest of Quill's team made similar noises, and a quiet "I am Groot" made her laugh out loud.**

The Guardians laughed with the Terran on screen as Quill pouted.

**He turned to face the tree with an offended look. "You're taking her side?" He asked his team. "And the Ravagers are not terrible pilots! We may not have the best ships in the 'verse but that's hardly something to hold against us." He stuck his nose in the air. "We do our best with what we can."****"I am Groot."****Quill gasped dramatically and winked at Payton out of the corner of his eye. "How dare you!"****Payton landed smoothly in the dead center of a sprawling compound about fifteen minutes from her house. Rocket was the first out the hatch.****Peter was out of the door last, lingering behind Payton, who followed Drax. Groot perched himself on her shoulder and had let loose a torrent of compliments, from her 'bark' and her 'leaves' to her tattoos. She was laughing, though, and seemed to be thanking him.****"So," Peter said, jogging a bit to match stride with the Terran girl. "You and Groot seem friendly."**

**Payton flashed him a smile as she turned to face him. Groot protested. "He's a friendly alien. I keep trying to tell him I don't have bark, though."****Peter grinned as he saw one of Groot's branches wrap around to his shoulder as he moved himself over. "It's what he calls skin." Understanding dawned on her face, and she twitched her nose at Groot when he told her that her bark was the most beautiful he'd ever seen on a Terran.****"Before we got here, I was the only Terran you'd met, and I'm only half!"****Payton's eyes flicked back to him. "Only half?" She asked, interested, before –****"Parker!"****Her head snapped around and she grinned at the man who'd called her name.**

**"Frosty!" She shouted, breaking out into a dead sprint.**

"Why is he so familiar?" Quill muttered.

**They collided in a hug, and the man spun Payton around. It took him a few more seconds to reach the rest of his team, who had stopped about half a dozen feet away from the reunion.**

**"You're back from Siberia already?" Payton asked, bouncing on her feet.****"It was a short mission," the man shrugged, metal arm gleaming. Rocket's eyes glinted. Gamora pinched the back of his neck and he snarled. "We picked up Zemo, and then we blew the base to pieces and left."****"Where's Steve?"****"Debriefing," the man said, and he and Payton made a face at each other. He grinned and looked over at where Peter and the rest of the Guardians were standing. "Who's –"**

**Peter bounced forwards, his boots giving him a bit of a boost. "I'm Peter Quill, and we're the Guardians of the Galaxy. Here on a sort of missionary visit."****"He means he crashed his ship into my backyard," Payton smirked, glancing sideways at Peter. "It's okay, spaceman, he won't judge you much. It's not nearly as bad as the time he –"**

"Bucky Barnes!" Quill gasped, sitting ramrod straight. "He was part of the Howling Commandos is World War Two! But he's supposed to be dead." His brow furrowed, before awe leaked into his expression. "If that's Barnes, then maybe Steve is..." He trailed off, and the other looked at each other, baffled.

**The man clapped a hand over Payton's mouth and smiled at Peter before sending a fake glower at her. "He doesn't need that information." His hand jerked in an aborted movement. "Licking my hand isn't going to make me move it, Webhead." His eyes went back to Peter's. "My name's James." He said, holding out his other hand to shake.****Payton looked between the two of them with something like muted horror. She said something, but her voice was muffled by James' hand. There was something that sounded like a growl, and then suddenly James was on his back with Payton's boot on his throat. "James," she said, "I love you, but you're an asshole."**

The Guardians cracked smiles at the exchange, chuckling.

**James grinned up at her. "Aw, I love you too, doll." Peter narrowed his eyes at the accent.**

Gamora glanced over at Quill, whose expression matched that of his onscreen counterpart.

**James made like he was going to get up, so Payton moved her leg away, and then, in a series of moves that could barely be tracked, James grabbed her leg, pulled her to the ground, went rolling off of her when kicked up at him, and ended up in between her thighs as she sat calmly on the ground.**

"They're fast!" Quill exclaimed in shock, his team looking like they agreed.

**"Natasha loves teaching the next generation her tricks, James. She taught me and Wanda this one last week. It's one of my favorite moves, but I much prefer the one where I can get a running start. What do you say?"****The man looked like he was laughing. He tapped her leg and she released him.****Peter was in shock. Behind him, Gamora was studying the Terrans with a new interest. Or any interest, if Peter was being honest. Groot was cheering from his shoulder, and Drax moved forwards to clap Payton on the back. "Well fought, tiny lady."****James grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders. Peter was not happy. "Aw, I had her on the ropes." He said, smirking down at Payton, who rolled her eyes at him. _Obviously an inside joke then._****"Please," she threw off James' arm and sauntered ahead of them to the steps leading to the entrance of the main building. "You wish you had me on anything."**

**Payton sat comfortably on the recliner in the Compound's living room. Wanda was sitting on the loveseat with Pietro as they watched a documentary on twins who'd been separated at birth.****Quill was leaning against the wall with the Gamora.****A man plopped down next to Payton. "Sticky fingers," he said in lieu of greeting as he planted his feet in her lap.****"Hawkass," she greeted him, snatching Dr. Pepper from his hands.****He rolled his eyes to the heavens. "And you wonder why I call you sticky fingers?" He mused, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth.****"You're the worst, Clint," Payton said. Her eyes shot back to Quill, only to see him staring back, grinning when he realized she was looking at him too. She waggled her fingers at him and Clint snorted.****"Taking lessons from Katy Perry, I see." He nudged her leg with his foot.**

"Katy Perry?" Drax asked, and, once again, Quill shrugged.

**She shot him a look as she took a swig of her stolen drink. He had a second one in the bucket, anyway. "Captain Jack Harkness, actually," she smiled angelically as he scowled.**

The Guardians didn't even bother asking.

**"You wouldn't know –"****"Oh spider, my spider!" Tony sauntered into the room, sunglasses in place and tablet in hand. "I have an idea."****"Unfortunately for you, I don't work for you today. Come back at 8 AM tomorrow and I'll be more willing to listen."**

The team laughed, enjoying Payton's snark.

**Tony rolled his eyes. "I don't mean an engineering idea, Brown Recluse, the spaceship is more than enough for me to work on for the next few days – I mean, you should absolutely give the Guardians a tour of our facilities. They'll be staying here until their ship is fixed, so they might as well know the grounds."****Payton looked up at him from underneath her lashes. "I'm still off duty, Tony."****He smirked. "You're never off duty as an Avenger."****Payton glared at him. Quill perked up with interest.****"You're an Avenger?" Quill asked.****Payton glanced over at him. _Well, there goes my anonymity._ "Yeah," she said, pushing Clint's legs off her lap. "Well, let's get this show on the road. Come on, move it, the Compound is a big plot of land. It'll take us at least fifteen minutes to make our** _**way to the gym, and that's not even leaving the building."**__**It makes sense that she's an Avenger, after all. With how quickly she'd moved, there really couldn't have been much of a chance that they hadn't scooped her up. Payton been talking almost continuously since they'd left the common area.**__**Other than Stardust, there is Tony Stark (Iron Man), James Barnes (the Winter Soldier), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver), Bruce Banner (the Hulk), Sam Wilson (the Falcon), and Steve Rogers (the actual, original Captain America, holy shit I thought he'd died and gone to Heaven). And there was also Thor.**_

"Holy shit, Captain America's alive!" Quill yelled, eyes wide.

**"Stupid intergalactic problems needing my favorite prince." Payton muttered while James – _James Buchanan Barnes, also known as Bucky Barnes, or alternatively, my favorite Howling Commando growing up_ – patted her on the back and snickered at her. "Shut up James," she'd said, and punched him in the shoulder hard enough for him to wince and rub it.**

**"So, here's our training areas," Payton said, drawing Peter's attention back to the present her. "We have different rooms for different training purposes, like Wanda needs a room that can withstand her magic, Hawkass and Nat need a shooting range, the super soldiers**

"Super soldiers? As in, plural?" Quill asked.

**or otherwise enhanced individuals need extremely durable equipment, and the various flying Avengers need to have enough space to perform their aerial maneuvers. And then there's a regular gym area equipped with treadmills, weights, cycling machines, punching bags, blah blah blah." Payton pushed open the doors to the different rooms as she explained their purposes, and the last door opened to reveal a blond man beating the shit out of a punching bag. "And here we see Stevie going ham because Bucky and Natasha are winning the prank war."**

"Prank war?" Rocket questioned, staring at the screen.

**Rogers looked away from the punching bag to send Payton a filthy look before punching the bag hard enough for it to break off the hook. He looked down at it and sighed before kicking it over to the three other bags lined up against the wall, either split or knocked off their hooks. "They bedazzled my suit so it says 'Made in the USA' on my ass, Payton. That's a violation of my civil liberties."**

Quill snickered, and the others chuckled, not quite knowing what that meant, but finding it funny anyway.

**Payton snickered. "That was my idea. Not putting 'Made in the USA' on your ass but bedazzling the suit. Well, bedazzling something. I wanted to beautify Fury's eyepatch, but he's always wearing it, so that was impossible." **

The Guardians wondered who Fury was and why the Terran woman wanted to bedazzle his eye patch.

**Payton shrugged and walked further into the room. "I'm pretty sure putting that on your ass was Winter's idea. He's an asshole." Steve nodded.****The Guardians followed behind her, and Rogers' eyes turned to them. "I thought you'd be bigger," Peter said, and Gamora turned around and left the gym. **

**Rogers blinked, looked like he was going to question them, and then turned to Payton with the same bewildered look. Her shoulders were shaking with silent laughter, so Rogers turned back to Peter. "I'm 6'2''?" He said, puzzled. "I don't know how tall you want me to be."****"Shaq," she said, giggling, and Rogers turned on his heel and pointed at her threateningly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.****"Humans aren't supposed to be that tall!" He said with feeling.**

"I need to get back in touch with Terran pop culture." Quill said frowning

**The Guardians looked like they'd be fitting right in. Bruce and Drax were talking quietly, or at least as quietly as Drax was capable of. Bruce was smiling as he exchanged stories with the large grey man.**_**Drax is definitely going to have to meet Hulk before the Guardians left to go back to space. They'd definitely get along well.**_

**Natasha, Gamora, Wanda, and Pepper all huddled together talking about whatever badass women talk about. **

**Pietro and Steve were talking to Groot, Pietro translating as he could somehow understand the tree-like alien.****At the opposite end of the table, the engineers were arguing, while Sam and Clint watched with amusement and interjected occasionally to keep the debate going. Tony, Bucky, and Rocket were talking heatedly about the usefulness of Earth's technologies against what the rest of the galaxy had been able to create. _Personally, I half wish I was over there with the engineers of my team, arguing with Rocket until they're all tired of the argument but unwilling to concede their point, but I like where I am good enough too._**

**Payton was sitting right next to Quill, who still had the Walkman clipped onto his pants, and the headphones hanging around his neck.****"So how come you're only half-human?" Payton asked, leaning back into her chair, turned to the side so she could face Quill, her legs tucked under her.****Quill mirrored her in the chair next to her, facing her and tapping the armrest of his chair to the beat of 'I Want You Back'. "Only one of my parents was human," he answered, tilting his head back. "My dad was an alien who came to visit Terra and got my mom pregnant. He left before I was born, though."**

**Payton tilted her head at him. "How did you end up in space, then?" She leaned towards him slightly.****Quill made a face at the question. "I was essentially abducted by the Ravagers, and taken in by them. They were supposed to take me to my dad, but they kept me instead, raised me to be like them. So, I was a Ravager until I broke out of intergalactic prison with these idiots and we became a team."**

"I've never thought of it like that." Rocket said.

"I am Groot!"

**Payton grinned. "What a meet-cute scenario. The first Avenger I met was Tony, and that was because I had an internship with Stark Industries. They had us look at blueprints and designs sometimes to see what we could be doing if we got a job there after the internship, and I got a blueprint with a purposeful error on it. Course, I didn't know it was put there on purpose, and so I went to the team leader like 'Mr. Collen, this series of equations isn't structured correctly, and so the whole system of energy conservation in this phone is going to fail and a full battery will only give you two and a half minutes of phone life'. And then Tony hired me. I was wrong about the two and a half minutes, though. It was '_two minutes and fifty-three seconds, better luck next time Underoos_." Payton adopted the irked expression Tony was wearing at the moment. **

The Guardians laughed at her impression.

**Then she rolled her eyes. _Tony actually made a phone with that problem so he could see how quickly it would die. Showoff._**

**Quill looked relaxed as he sank into the chair. "How'd you become an Avenger?" He asked, looking genuinely interested.****"I have a habit of making stupid comments under my breath, and at the time I wasn't exactly used to there being other people around who could hear me make them, so I talked to myself almost constantly. Steve was in Tony's workshop once, talking about the Crimson Spider's latest adventure in downtown Manhattan, and I said something about my ribs being bruised for days after the asshole threw an entire bus full of people at me in the middle of the fight." He sent her a look. "I heal fast, normally bruises not above broken bones last one day, two at the most." He looked envious.**

"That is not normal for humans, in case you were wondering." Quill stated.

**"Wish I had that little ability, Stardust," he said with a lazy smile. "Even though I'm half-alien, I still get injured easier than anyone else on the team. Kind of hits team morale to have their leader beaten and bruised after a little skirmish with space monkeys."****Payton laughed before tensing. _Someone is watching us, _and she turned her head to the side to see Gamora staring at her intently. Their eyes connected for a good three seconds before Gamora raised an eyebrow** **and turned away. **_**Shit, so she and spaceman have to be dating. Spaceman is hot like burning, knows a fuckton about technology (space technology!!!) and likes the Jackson Five. And he calls me 'stardust'. All of that points to him being my soulmate, but he is apparently already tied to another (terrifying) woman.**_

**"I don't think your girlfriend appreciates us talking." She said, studying her cuticles intently. She was so focused on not looking up that she missed the look of complete bafflement that passed over his face. She wouldn't have missed the words that would've come next if it wasn't for the alarm to assemble.****"Captain, Mr. Barnes, Mr. Barton, and Ms. Parker, please suit up. There is a bank robbery in progress on 26th Street, and there are approximately 15 hostages inside, 4 of them small children. The police have requested your immediate backup." JARVIS' voice cut through the silence caused by the end of the alarm.****Payton was out of her chair before the AI even had a chance to finish speaking, running for the balcony.****Steve, Bucky, and Clint made a beeline for the fireman's pole in the corner of the kitchen, sliding down quickly. Steve and Bucky ran to the Quinjet since they'd left their uniforms in there after the whole Siberia thing, and Clint made a stop at the weapon wall in the common area to grab a spare bow and quiver before heading after them. Three minutes after the call to assemble, the four were in the Quinjet and on their way to the bank.**

"That was quick." Gamora stated with a bit of surprise evident in her voice.

**Payton rubbed her wrist through the suit.****In the aftermath of the assemble alarm, the Guardians sat in the dining area of the Avengers Compound, looking a little stunned.****Natasha stood with a proud smile, looking at them. **_**The growth of the Avengers into what it is today is something that I'm very grateful to have been a part of, and I'm was hoping that the Guardians will get to experience it as well.**__**The Guardians looked at each other, listening to the description of the family-like team of heroes.**__**We'd faced a lot of trials to get where we are, but we'd managed to reach the point where we bounce off of each other and can rely on each other to have our backs. That isn't always easy in a group like ours.**_

**She smirked, seeing the way the Guardian's leader was rubbing his left arm. _Spaceman and Stardust. It has a nice ring to it._**

**Payton and Peter were talking. His eyes kept catching on Payton's suit and the fit of it as they spoke, and Payton got more and more flustered every time his eyes snapped back up to hers.****"Gamora and I are not dating, nor are we even slightly romantically interested in each other."**

**"In order to see the full force of the threat that Thanos poses, a delegate of the Avengers will go with the Guardians to scope the danger that awaits Earth when the his army arrives." Steve stated, the Avengers and the Guardians circled around him as he spoke.****"Alright, everything is ready to go. Rocket is already dismantling the tech you gave him, Supernova," Quill nodded to Tony, who grinned. Pepper stood behind him, arm wrapped easily around his waist, 'little red' written in Tony's block letters. Tony had his arms crossed over his chest, and you could just make out 'idiot' written in Pepper's elegant script on the outside of his right arm.****Bucky and Steve were standing next to each other 'punk' and 'jerk' on full display.****Natasha's 'princess' soulmate was just barely visible, and Clint's 'dumbass' could be seen clear as day. Pietro and Wanda's marks, 'маленькая ведьма' (little witch) and 'быстрый' (speedy) were also on display, them cherishing the small moment when no one was ridiculing them for the fact that they were siblings and soulmates.****Payton glanced down at her arm where stardust was covered by her long sleeves.****Quill met her eyes when she turned away from Clint, who was fussing like a mother dropping her only child off at college. Payton grinned at the half-alien in front of her. Her smile turned a little softer as she grabbed his hand and tugged him back towards his own ship.****"C'mon spaceman," she said. "The cosmos are waiting."**

The Guardians all looked at each other, before Quill stood up.

"We have to go to Earth."

And with a flash of white light, they were back on the Milano. Quill grabbed the controls and st course for his home planet. And for his Stardust.


End file.
